Tim Thomas and the Boston Bruins deserved the Stanley Cup. The Canucks however...
If you’re a fan of the Vancouver Canucks and just wants to forget about Game 7, or the series for that matter, I think it’s best you don’t read this. Warning: I am about to rip the Canucks. Sorry Canucks fans, I have some very strong feelings about Game 7. If you haven’t noticed, I’m going to do the same thing I did for the NBA Finals and free write this one with the topics and all that. I got positive feedback and I’ll do it again. Again, give me your feedback about this style compared to a news recap in the comments section. Thanks.
1. Tim Thomas
Don’t worry Canucks fans who stuck around, this part isn’t about your team. The Boston Bruins played like a championship team, period. Their 37-year old goalie outperformed a 32-year old goalie throughout. What a great story Tim Thomas is. If you didn’t know, he bounced around a few foreign leagues, played well last year, lost his job to Tuuka Rask in the playoffs, than regained it this year and shined. Really shined. Roberto Luongo and Thomas were supposed to be the best in the business, but only one goalie delivered: Thomas. And that’s all that matters.
2. Supporting cast (Boston)
There is not enough to be said about Boston’s offense. They had outbursts, and they were shut out twice. But boy were they strong throughout. Most of the credit goes to Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand, and 43-year old Mark Recchi, who is retiring. On defense, Zdeno Chara played like the Captain that Boston fans hoped he would. Recchi played the best I’ve seen him play all year, he knew this was his last series, and he went all out. Did I see that effort from Vancouver? No. Not at all.
3. Roberto Luongo
Roberto Luongo. WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING? Stop calling LeBron a choker, this guy chokes when he really cannot afford to. He’s brilliant when you need him to be in the low-pressure situations, but Game 6, Game 7, NO, it was not going to happen for Roberto. How embarrassing did it feel for not only him, not only Alain Vigneault, but for the FANS of the Canucks to see their prized goalie give up 8 goals one game, 4 the next, and completely blow up in Games 6 and 7? No wonder there’s a riot going on in Vancouver. The fans are going crazy. They just had a chance to witness redemption, redemption for 1994, redemption for that demoralizing loss, and what does Roberto Luongo do? He completely throws those dreams out the window, and 2 periods through Game 7, I think everyone inside the Rogers Arena knew that they would not see what they had wished, wanted, and begged to have: A Stanley Cup they could call their own. And you know why they couldn’t? Because Roberto Luongo couldn’t finish the deal. I’m telling you, LeBron is nothing of a choker as compared to LuChoker.
4. Alain Vigneault
I’m not going soft on Vigneault after the way he handled Luongo (er, LuChoker). I mean, this is the STANLEY CUP FINALS on the line for a city that has NEVER had a Stanley Cup champion. You have to at least ignite some fire inside Roberto Luongo by causing a goalie competition with Corey Schneider and not to say that Luongo is the surefire starter for ANY GAME right after he bombs Games 3, 4, or 6. Saying that Luongo is the starting goalie for the next game is not going to do anything for Luongo’s confidence, if that’s what he wanted to do. Instead, it might do the opposite. Possibly Roberto Luongo doubted if he could do it, to perform at the time he needed to the most. And maybe, MAYBE, that’s why the Vancouver Canucks are not the Stanley Cup champions and the city of Vancouver is rioting instead of celebrating.
5. Fans
I feel for Vancouver fans. The real fans were the ones standing and cheering at Rogers Arena, not the ones rioting on the streets. The Canucks have never won a Stanley Cup title, and the fans have stuck with them each and every season. Kudos to them. I’m done ranting about the Stanley Cup Finals, I’ll just recommend a few Stanley Cup related articles by Canucks fans.
Chris Ross talks about the Canucks and Game 7 here.
Brad’s post “This is NOT the year” isn’t very positive. Shut your eyes unless you dare. Here it is.
Yes, I know I’m very late posting this, I apologize, I hope you like the post though. More NHL news and analysis coming up soon.
thenewsofsports 
Sweet and simple – Boston wanted it more. Unlike Vancouver, they were in each and every game. Remember that all of Vancouver’s wins were by one goal, and the game 2 winner was fluky as hell. Each and every player on the Boston squad played at the level you’d expect them to perform at.
One comment on Vigneault – I’m not sure if this is true or not, but he actually asked Luongo in game 3 if he wanted to be pulled or not at one point. As a coach, you either do it or you don’t. Asking your goalie if he wants to be pulled is a good strategy – if you want to shatter his confidence.
Definitely. I saw that from the beginning. They came out fighting and scratching every single game. It looked almost as if Vancouver expected to win without doing anything. You’re right, Vigneault either has to pull the trigger or he doesn’t have to. He should’ve, in my opinion, but he was too lenient I think.